1998 ignition cylinder...replace cylinder or steering column???
 

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Hi everyone I'm new to this site and i have a quick question. I was given this '98 ford f150 from my friends grandparents. The trucks been sitting for 2yrs. Someone broke in and tried to steal it. So damage was done and they just never got around to fixing it. I need to know if i should replace the whole steering column or is this a piece i can just get at the junk yard to replace what was broken. Im gonna try and upload a few pics of what im looking at. Im not a mechanic I'm just trying to do this myself. I apologize in advance if I'm not sure what yall are asking me lol

wow, the thieves really f*cked that up. i would replace the whole column

That part can't be repaired unless you have a donor column for that front half. Being a tilt column gives you that advantage. I've rebuilt many of those columns over the years and there's some more good news. Ford used the exact same column across many lines. F150's, Crown Vic, Grand Marquis, Lincoln Town Car, Aerostar, etc... so you should have no problem finding parts.

As cheaply built as they are and the ease of RnR. I'd just throw a different column in it. Rebuilding a tilt column requires some experience and I would normally state special tools but I figured out how to do it when my special tool broke at the worst possible time.

Necessity being the mother of invention and all that, I adapted.
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would be much less time consuming just to throw in a different column

Replace the column, I repaired one once and I regretted repairing it.